Paris: France said that it had no evidence of Taliban hand in an attack on the Afghan Defence Ministry on Monday as had been claimed by the outfit that it was an attempt to kill the French Defence Minister.

Defence Minister Gerard Longuet was in Afghanistan at the time of Sunday's attack, but was in Bagram airbase more than 40 kilometres outside Kabul and not in the Defence Ministry, his office in Paris said.

"There is no evidence that he was the target," an official said.

Earlier on Sunday, a suicide bomber in army uniform entered the Afghan Defence Ministry but was shot before he was able to detonate his explosive vest. The Taliban claimed thatLonguet had been the target of the attack.